USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)
The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E was a ''Sovereign''-class Federation starship operating in the late 24th century. The sixth Federation vessel to bear the name, the Enterprise-E serves as the flagship of the Federation. History Construction and launch The Enterprise-E was commissioned on stardate 49827.5 and was, at the time, the most advanced starship in the fleet. It was built at the San Francisco Fleet Yards in orbit of Earth. Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumed command shortly after the vessel's launch, just over a year following the destruction of its predecessor. Most of Picard's crew from the ''Enterprise''-D were reassigned to the Enterprise-E. Technical info The Enterprise-E was 685 meters long and has 29 decks. Deck 11 contained deflector control, stellar cartography, and hydroponics. Deck 16 contained Main Engineering and one sickbay ward. (Star Trek: First Contact) The ship could be controlled by a manual steering column, located on the bridge. (Star Trek: Insurrection) It was also the first Enterprise to be equipped with an Emergency Medical Hologram. (Star Trek: First Contact) The Enterprise carried a newer design of shuttlecraft as well as numerous other forms of transportation including a warp-capable captain's yacht, the Cousteau (Star Trek: Insurrection), and a special multipurpose shuttlecraft, the Argo. (Star Trek: Nemesis) Crewmembers included those of the human, Vulcan, Bajoran, Betazoid, Bolian, and Trill species, as well as a Klingon and an android. (Star Trek: Insurrection) In service After a year of shakedown, the Enterprise-E was ordered to the Romulan Neutral Zone during the second Borg incursion. Starfleet was officially concerned about possible Romulan military action since most of the fleet had been diverted to fight the Borg, but there was little activity from the Romulans. In reality, Starfleet was worried about Picard's presence at the battle. Disobeying orders, Captain Picard returned to Earth, his decision proving instrumental in the Battle of Sector 001. The Borg cube was destroyed, but not before it launched a second vessel towards Earth. This ship created a temporal vortex and traveled back to the year 2063, in order to stop Zefram Cochrane from launching his historic Phoenix warpship and prevent the formation of the Federation. The Enterprise chased the Borg into the past and destroyed their ship, then sent an away team to help Cochrane repair the Phoenix. However, the ship's sensors were damaged during the trip to the past and unbeknownst to the crew, several Borg drones transported aboard the Enterprise before their ship exploded. They began to assimilate the ship's engineering section below Deck 11, including many crewmembers. They also attempted to build an interplexing beacon on the Enterprise deflector dish to contact the Borg Collective. A team led by Captain Picard stopped the beacon from being completed by separating the deflector from the ship and then destroying it. Picard eventually realized that the fight was a lost cause, and ordered the evacuation of the ship and an auto-destruct, to prevent the Borg from interfering with the Phoenix flight. He eventually confronted the Borg Queen in Main Engineering, and with the help of Commander Data, cancelled the auto-destruct and used plasma coolant to liquefy the organic components of the Borg, destroying their temporary collective. Enterprise crew were successful in helping Cochrane make his flight, and the vessel returned to 2373 following the historic first contact with the Vulcans. (Star Trek: First Contact) :Seven of Nine made reference to the ''Enterprise and Borg involvement with Cochrane's flight in VOY: "Relativity." The incident was described as an example of a Pogo Paradox.'' In 2375, the Enterprise was conducting a diplomatic mission with the Evora, a new Federation protectorate species, and was scheduled to resolve a dispute in the Goren system when its crew became embroiled in a plot by the Son'a, assisted by Starfleet Admiral Matthew Dougherty, to forcibly remove the Ba'ku from their isolated homeworld in the Briar Patch. The Son'a planned to harvest metaphasic radiation from the planet's ring system, and needed Starfleet cooperation to carry out the plan. Captain Picard felt the relocation of the Ba'ku was a severe violation of the Prime Directive, resigned his commission, and led a team of Enterprise crewmembers to the Ba'ku planet to prevent their capture and removal. Commander William Riker was instructed to take the Enterprise and contact the Federation Council to alert them to the realities of the situation. It was a treacherous journey, since the Briar Patch interfered with external communications as well as the ship's impulse drive. Two Son'a battle cruisers were sent by Ahdar Ru'afo to intercept the Enterprise before it left the Briar Patch, and severely damaged the ship in the process. The warp core was ejected in order to seal a dangerous tear in subspace created by the isolytic weaponry of the Son'a. Riker was able to outsmart the Son'a by collecting metreon gas native to the Briar Patch then venting it behind the ship. When the Son'a used their weapons, the gas exploded, destroying one ship and severely damaging the other. The Enterprise then convinced the Federation Council to reconsider the plan for the Ba'ku and Captain Picard was reinstated as the ship's commander. (Star Trek: Insurrection) The Enterprise visited Earth for several days in 2376, around the time the Pathfinder Project made contact with the [[USS Voyager|USS Voyager]]. (VOY: "Pathfinder") The Enterprise conducted a mission about seven light-years from Earth late that year. (VOY: "Life Line") :According to Deanna Troi, it was an important mission, but then again, all of the ''Enterprise's missions are important.'' Sometime after the end of the Dominion War, the Enterprise received a refit, increasing its offensive capabilities. Three extra aft facing photon torpedo tubes were added, along with two more forward facing tubes: a twin launcher aft of the bridge, a single launcher above the aft hangar deck, a single launcher at the base of the bridge terracing, and a single launcher near the bow. Additionally, four extra phaser arrays were added to the nacelle pylons. In 2379, the Enterprise returned to Earth for the wedding of William Riker and Deanna Troi. It then departed for Betazed, where another ceremony, a traditional Betazoid wedding was scheduled. While en route, the ship detected unusual positronic signals from the Kolarin system, discovering another Soong-type android, the prototype B-4. Shortly following, the Enterprise was ordered to Romulus for a meeting with the new Praetor, Shinzon, who wanted to initiate peace talks. Both the discovery of B-4 and the peace overtures turned out to be a ruse to capture Captain Picard and discover tactical positions of Starfleet vessels. Once it became clear Shinzon was going to use his starship, the Scimitar, to destroy all life on Earth and wage war on the Federation, the Enterprise was to join Starfleet Battle Group Omega and make a stand against Shinzon. Shinzon caught up to the Enterprise in the Bassen Rift, and in the ensuing confrontation, the vessel was severely damaged, including a major hull breach on the bridge, and unable to stop the Scimitar. As a last resort, Picard ordered the Enterprise to ram the Scimitar, causing the destruction of much of the saucer section's forward area. The collision disabled the Scimitar, but Shinzon, driven by vengeance, activated his deadly thalaron weapon and trained it on the Enterprise. The weapon was later overloaded and the Scimitar destroyed due to interference from Commander Data, who sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise. The ship then returned to Earth, and was required to go through several weeks of extensive drydock repair. (Star Trek: Nemesis) :A cut scene from the script for ''Star Trek: Nemesis revealed that it was the starship USS Hemingway that towed the critically-damaged Enterprise-E to Earth.'' :According to the ''Star Trek: Nemesis script and a deleted scene, the Enterprise was to explore the Denab system following its refit. In this scene you can also see Commander Martin Madden, the new executive officer, and a new captain's chair with something most Star Trek bridges have lacked: a seatbelt!'' Command Crew *commanding officer (CO) **Captain Jean-Luc Picard *first officer/executive officer (XO) **Commander William Riker (2372-2379) **Commander Martin Madden (2379-) *operations officer (operations manager)/science officer **Lieutenant Commander Data (2372-2379) *chief engineer **Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge *tactical officer/security chief **Lieutenant Daniels (2373-2379) **Lieutenant Commander Worf (2379-) *chief medical officer (CMO) **Commander Beverly Crusher *counselor **Commander Deanna Troi (2372-2379) *conn **Lieutenant Hawk (2373) **Ensign Kell Perim (2375) **Lieutenant Branson (2379) :Scenes cut from the theatrical release of ''Star Trek: Nemesis (but included in the DVD release) state that Commander Martin Madden would take over for Riker as First Officer. Early versions of the script made reference to an Andorian ops officer. The new counselor was female, according to dialogue.'' Background Information The Enterprise-E was principally designed by John Eaves and Herman Zimmerman. Rick Sternbach drafted the blueprints for the ship. Eaves and Zimmerman also supervised the interior design of the bridge, engineering, and corridors, although many sets from Star Trek: Voyager were also reused during Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. A ten-foot physical model constructed under the supervision of John Goodson at Industrial Light and Magic was used for some visual effects shots during Star Trek: First Contact. By the time of Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis, a CGI version of the ship completely replaced the physical model. This CGI model received several modifications designed by John Eaves. In addition to the new weapons mentioned above, the warp pylons were slightly modified and the connection between the primary and secondary hulls near the main shuttlebay was sleekened. Appendices Appearances *''Star Trek: First Contact'' *''Star Trek: Insurrection'' *''Star Trek: Nemesis'' References *DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" *VOY: **"Relativity" **"Pathfinder" **"Life Line" **"Inside Man" Apocrypha Some missions of the Enterprise-E during the Dominion War are featured in Behind Enemy Lines, Tunnel Through the Stars and Tales of the Dominion War. A "TNG relaunch" of sorts follows the Enterprise-E's activities after Nemesis; the first book in the series, Death in Winter, was released in September 2005. The Enterprise-E has also featured in many apocryphal productions, including the strategy games Star Trek: Armada, Star Trek: Armada II, Star Trek: Bridge Commander, Star Trek: Starfleet Command III, and Star Trek: Elite Force II. Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) de:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) fr:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) nl:USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)